Lucrative settlement with hedge funds leaves out many smaller investors who are likely to get much less

Argentina’s lucrative settlement with hedge funds holding its defaulted bonds was hailed as a landmark. But it leaves out several hundred smaller investors—many holding the same bonds—who are likely to get much less.

Individual savers, pensioners and small money managers in Argentina and around the globe have claims that add up to about $2 billion. They didn’t take the 30 cents on the dollar Argentina offered after it defaulted on $80 billion in debt in 2001, and they aren’t eligible to get the same relatively generous terms...